School Board Chair to Be Elected Tuesday

By Amy Lester, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Tuesday's School Board election in Oklahoma City will decide a district-wide of the school board.

Both Oklahoma City and Tulsa elect their chair.

Former Mayor Kirk Humphreys was recently appointed to the chair position and is seeking election to it, mainly to see that Maps for Kids is completed properly.

"To make sure that we safeguard the taxpayers' investments in Maps for Kids and the 2007 Bond issue," Humphreys said. "Make sure we do that right and get this district back on a good footing."

Former state Senator Angela Monson is also seeking the chair position. She wants Maps for Kids completed too, but that's not her chief focus.

"If we don't have the resources in the classroom to teach our children, shame on us," Monson said. "It doesn't matter that they're in a beautiful new edifice."

The three other candidates in District One include Lyn Watson, Cordell Jordan and Sherry Barton.

Turnout is usually low in school board elections, so the candidates are counting on phone banks and mailings to get the voters out.

There are just over 100,000 voters in the Oklahoma City District, but in the last school-related vote, only about 14 percent of the electorate turned out.

Regardless of the turnout, District voters will make history on Tuesday.

Polls are opening from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and you must live in the Oklahoma City School District to be eligible to vote.